The Nex Stone
by OperationJonny
Summary: As they turned in and locked up the mines, they both took a silent vow, not to speak of this sinister stone. Little did they know, that the mere unearthing of the stone had turned every dark eye in the world onto Forgetmenot Valley.
1. The Foreboding Stone

**The Nex Stone**

Written by **OperationJonny**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, in any aspect. I do own, though the storyline and the original characters used within.**

**A/N: It's kind of short, but thats because I was aiming for a certain effect to embody my writing. Hope you guys don't mind!**

* * *

The long day of labor plagued the two, even after their work had finished. The intensity of their work was shown by their red faces, a mixture of soil and sweat visible among their features.

Carter, a weathered, sturdy looking archaeologist sporting a pair of spectacles stood besides Flora, his assistant, a petite labor-toned woman with bright platinum blond hair, paired with striking violet eyes. She made Carter, who was a slightly older man of tan complexion with dark eyes and hair, look plain. The two crouched over their recent discovery.

"What is this, Carter?" Flora asked, the usual aloofness in her eyes replaced with an intense focus that only appeared in her eyes when she made that one important discovery. All other times, she did nothing but daydream of it.

Neither she nor he expected to actually find it in the humble hills of Forget-me-not Valley.

"I... don't know, Flora. This is out of my comprehension. I've never seen something quite like this before..." He said, inspecting what he stood over, tempted to touch it, but simultaneously refusing to tarnish it's worth with human touch. Carter's spectacles slid down the bridge of his nose, as he peered in closer to this amazing artifact. It was perfectly preserved... not a single scratch or imperfection on it's lovely surface.

What they crouched over, was a strange black stone, with a swirling dark emerald green core. But, the most odd and noteworthy feature of this stone... was the fact that it was emitting an aura.

An aura of power. It was such an intense power, that it felt as if a boot had been pressed against their chests, as they gazed upon the perfectly round ovular stone. The aura that burnt around it was between that of a glow, and a fire, and was of a dark, changing color.

The felt the obvious power of this relic, the dark portents it's arrival into their hands had casted. The sensation of discovery was overwhelmed by a new, peculiar feeling; the feeling that they ought to bury the rock and never dig in this area again.

But, they felt fame and fortune calling them, as they would be recognized as celebrities of their calling. They never imagined such a thing to ever be found, during the small times of their rise to archaeological renown, as they planned it.

"Should we tell the villagers of what it is...? It seems so wrong to keep it, to hide it and pretend like it doesn't exist. It seems evil..." Flora began, but Carter shook his head. "No, we won't speak a word of this to any townsfolk... that last thing we need is for our ticket to fame be ripped from our hands by a superstitious person who thinks they're playing the hero." He said, almost venomously. Then he noted Flora's worried expression, and he quickly added to his statement.

"Until we know what it is, that is." He said, as Carter wrapped the stone in a hankerchief, and the ominous feeling that had suffocated the two was lifted, and they felt as though they could smile again, and think happy thoughts.

As they turned in and locked up the mines, they both took a silent vow, not to speak of this sinister stone, until they had researched it, and turned it in for their fame. They knew, that if a word was uttered of it's existence, eventually it's underlying attributes would be revealed. That couldn't be allowed.

Little did they know, that the mere unearthing of the stone had turned every dark eye onto Forget-me-not Valley.

Soon, dark days were to come.

* * *

**A/N I'll update this every now and then, when I have the chance. Review and tell me what you think of it, and what I can do to improve. Stay tuned later, for another update!**


	2. Operation Enlightenment

A man sat in a chair in front of Ruby's Inn, in one hand a knife the other an apple. Strands of straight, intermixed dull brown and red hair fell into his hard jade eyes, which followed the figure of Carter, walking down the riverbank.

He slid the blade effortlessly through the apple as he raised the sliver of apple that lay atop the edge of the blade, to his mouth. He nudged the apple into his mouth, which was scarred from the right of his nose, through his lip, and down his neck.

His skin was of a tan complexion and he wore a thin vest over a black shirt and wore a pair of midnight blue slacks along with a set of brown steel-toe boots.

He ran a hand through his shoulder length hair, uncovering his ear, which had a hands-free communicator in it. "This is Knife. Subject is moving eastward out of town. Smooth, King, Terra, Drought, do you read?" He said clearly.

"Yes." The four voices responded, two male, two female. "King, has the rest of The Crew split up to track and follow the subject?" He asked and a sturdy, but plain sounding voice chirped in.

"Yeah, they're all in position." King said, from the walkie-talkie. "Alright, you know what to do then, King. I'm sure this'll be a successful operation that'll shed light on Carter and Flora's shady actions lately." The man known as Knife said. "Felix, are you hungry? Ruby's going to help me cook dinner..." A red-head with a fair complexion and a bored look in her ice-blue eyes said.

"I'm not right now Nami. I'm playing war, sweetheart." he said, with a grin at her and she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I hope you have rations in case the food gets cold, because I'm not going to wait for you." She said to Felix, whose codename in the crew was apparently Knife.

King, a plain sized man of twenty years, stood off to the side of a sparse forest on the mountain path. He was hiding behind the trees at the turn-off between Mineral Town, which was a larger, more developed town than Forget-me-not Valley, but smaller than Stone City.

He had normal somewhat unkempt brown hair and wore a white shirt, with blue trousers held up by suspenders. He stepped cautiously out from behind the trees, seeing Carter walking up the path, some distance off.

King grinned. He liked his codename. It referred to his title around the farming community where he was called the Farm King. His real name was Jack though, but being a part of this mission enthralled him. The concept of doing something out of the ordinary was a thrill. He watched as Carter walked slowly up the hill, dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief.

Once he got to the fork though, he looked sharply towards the trees as Jack had just stepped on a branch. Jack gasped slightly, and pressed his back to a thick tree quickly.

"Who's there!? Show yourself!" Carter called out and Jack could feel his heartbeat in his throat as he heard Carter begin searching through the forest and eventually he arrived near the tree that Jack was hiding behind.

Jack pressed his eyes shut, hoping for a miracle. Carter then reached his hand around the trunk, his hand almost a centimeter from Jack's face. "Where arrrrre youuu?" He asked in a strange twisted tone Jack had never heard before. Suddenly, there was a cracking noise from behind Carter.

Instead of looking behind the tree Jack was hidden, he whirled around to see a small rabbit. "Oh, it was just an animal." He said, almost disappointed. He then stomped down on the rabbit, causing a sick crunch noise, mingled with a splat. "Damn animal, wasting my time..." He said, taking the turn into Mineral Town.

Short of breath and breathing heavy, Jack raised his walkie-talkie. "King, reporting in. The mission was almost compromised, and the subject is violent. Smooth, Terra be careful. Knife, Locale of subject is in Town... what is the location of subject two, so Drought may enact her mission?" He asked, and Felix chirped over the walkie-talkie.

"Subject two is leaving the site... in a few minutes, Drought, move into their site and explore using the tools I've given you. Find something compromising, and then get out. Terra, are you in scouting position of Mineral Town?" He asked, and a female voice spoke from his walkie-talkie.

"Yes, I'm on the mountain and in clear view of everything... it's actually really pretty up here, especially with these... what did you call them? Binyoculars?..." She said, with a short giggle.

Felix sighed.

On the mountain nearby Mineral Town...

There stood a woman of average height about five feet tall, wearing a long green dress and an orange bandanna over her long brown hair. Her name was Celia, but she like the codename Terra. It was some fancy word that meant Earth.

She became serious as she placed the binoculars to her face, zooming in and out until she could find Carter. Eventually, she found him walking northwards until he walked into a building. Celia held her walkie-takie to her face.

"He's in the second house, from the farthest west wall of the town." She said, and Felix chirped in. "What kind of building do you think it is, Terra?" He asked, and she paused.

"I think it's a library." She said and Felix seemed stumped. "Hm... well, Smooth, investigate the location once he's left. You can depart from the forest, and move into the town. Now, Drought, how're you doing?" He asked.

A very girly voice piped up after being silent for so long. "These lockpick things are hard to use... they locked the front of the tent up with a chain and padlock..." She said as she grunted in annoyance.

Outside Carter and Flora's Tent...

"Ugh!" She exclaimed as she dropped her picks. She was a skinny, blonde woman of the same age as the rest of the crew. Her misty green eyes seemed to swirl with anger.

"Why did he have to give me the hard part? He should've given Celia this job and let me have the easy one... she's the tomboy, she likes to do hard stuff like this." She said pouting, as she puffed out her cheeks.

After some time, the lock clicked. "Oh!" She exclaimed as the padlock opened, and the chains that were locking down a wooden barrier they had made to stop intruders fell to the ground.

She pushed aside the wooden plank, after unwrapping the chains. She looked around, and there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary except a pink book poking out from a sleeping bag.

"Ooo!" Muffy squealed as she snatched it up. "A diary..." She said, her face becoming pink with excitement as she opened it midway from the beginning.

_It's becoming such a hassle for him to even consider me, lately... that was one of the initial reasons why I even pursued this career, was because of him, but now, he doesn't even notice me. All he thinks about is the next find... whats worse, is that there aren't any other eligible bachelors left in the Valley... I think Felix is extraordinarily handsome, but too bad he's married to that bitchy freak of a woman. I don't know what he sees in her, she lacks ALL of the features of a woman..._

Muffy squealed in delight, as she read further in about Flora's late obsession with Felix, and hatred towards Nami. She heard Felix's voice chirp commands over the radio. She ignored it, completely immersed in the private thoughts of another.

Then she happened over something curious. The most recent entry was somewhat disturbing. _He's begun to hit me. The thing we found he cares more about than anything, lately. Fixing the mine is a topic I get hit for discussing... if my cooking is bad, I get beaten as well... He avoids my face because then people will get suspicious. I just want life to be back to normal, this isn't the life I wanted. What happened to the Carter I loved? He won't even let me look at our discovery at all. He covets it and feels as if I'm going to steal it from him. I need to get rid of that St-_

After a few moments of reading this strange passage, she heard a loud shrill whistle coming from the direction of the Inn. "Oh no!" Muffy exclaimed as she became putting the book where it was found, gathering the radio and the lockpicks Felix had taught her how to use. That whistle, was a predetermined sign to signal that Flora was returning to the site.

The plan was he'd whistle and get Flora's attention while Muffy would escape with whatever clues she could get. But Muffy's curious nature had prevented her from doing her job. While she delved into Flora's lackluster love life, she had overlooked the crucial last passage until the very last moment, which was a moment too late.

Outside...

Felix ran up to Flora, who had reached the bridge near the river. "Hey! What's up?" He asked cheerfully, having put away his knife and his radio that was now silenced.

She looked at him distantly, tilting her head. "Uhm... nothing really, just returning to the tent, after buying some stuff for dinner tonight..." She said seeming worried at the concept of dinner and Felix grinned. "Dinner, huh? I can make this great chicken, it's spicy as hell, but with a great flavor. If you want I can go grab the recipe..." He said, and she shook her head, her hands carrying bags from the grocer. "No, Carter dislikes changes from his favorite food." She said, her eyes becoming more distant.

"Thanks anyways, I'll just being going back to the tent..." She said after a long pause. Felix stopped her. "Why is the site shut down, if you don't mind me asking? Nami loves some of the old things you can find down there, and I've been wanting to get her a gift..." He asked and a spark of what looked like anger leaped into her eyes.

"Oh, really?" She said, with a sharp edge to her voice. Felix nodded slowly. "Yeah." He said and she closed her eyes. "Well, give my apologies to your wife, because while me and Carter were trying to excavate new grounds to dig, the shaft collapsed, and the structural integrity has been shot since... we need to repair it ourselves." She said, and Felix nodded as she turned around.

"Call up Gotz, from Mineral Town. He's an excellent lumberjack and carpenter. There isn't anything he hasn't done with wood and nails, yet." He said, with a sincere smile, that made Flora feel light. "Uh...ok... I'll do that..." She said, trailing off as she left for the tent, walking slowly now.

When she got to the tent, the door was as she had left it. She removed a key from a necklace she wore and unlocked it, walking inside. Muffy was behind the thick tent, panting heavily. She had managed to get out and set everything back up, just as she had turned around for the last time. She then ran to Felix and the two ran back to the Inn.

Felix's expression was stone cold. "What took you?" He asked and she smiled sheepishly. "Well, I got some good information, like you told me to... but I didn't have time to take it with me." She said, with a short laugh.

Felix sighed. "How are you doing, Smooth?" He asked, and Smooth chirped over the radio. "All's well, Knife. He just left the library as the sign reads... I'm going to go in and smooth talk the librarian, and see what I can learn." He said, with an audible grin.

Back in Mineral Town...

Smooth, was an average height male, with sandy blond hair, tan skin and dark eyes. He wore a white collar shirt and light blue slacks. He was incredibly muscular, and handsome for his age. His real name was actually Damian, but he actually preferred the nickname Smooth.

He walked in and began looking for a book to pick. He could feel the eyes of the librarian behind him on him, looking him over.

He turned around, bookless and approached her with an award winning smile. "So sweetheart, what's a good read?" He asked the shy looking girl who was a bit younger than he was. She wore a long blue dress with long white sleeves. Her glasses slid down her nose, as she looked at him with large brown eyes. She played absentmindedly with her long lack hair, which was pulled into a long ponytail, tied with a ribbon.

"Uh...er...uhm... What?" She asked, blushing after she had finished muttering, realizing she had spent more time staring at him than answering his question. He smiled more. "You're cute... do think I could ask a favor of you... what's your name, hun?" He asked, leaning in over the counter.

The librarian, Mary usually hated these kinds of men. Good looking, charismatic... The kind most likely to play her. But this one, she couldn't resist drooling over. He was too _smooth_.

"M-mmm-m-m-Mary!" She finally got out as she fumbled to push up her glasses. "And what kind of... favor... do you want?" She asked her face boiling red at what could've been a certain _something._ He placed a hand on hers, which sent shivers down her spine.

"That man that just came in? That was my dad. Yes, I take after my mother, look nothing like the man. But, my father has a sever mental condition that makes him forget things after he does them, and he pretends to be things he isn't... he also is very sensitive about it, so please don't bring it up with him. But if you don't mind, could you keep an eye on him and tell me what he's reading, or doing? I don't want him doing anything that'll hurt himself." He said and Mary blushed with a smile.

"Y-yeah, anything for you, sir." She said with a sigh, as she was shocked to see that he had leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Thank you, it means a lot to me and my mother." She said as the almost godlike creature left her library. She threw her head on the counter of the table. She felt like a puddle of liquid right now as she shuddered in delight as she thought about what just happened.

"Alright, phase one of the crew's plan has been finished. Felix, everything's in order. We'll be returning to the valley, in timed increments like you wanted." He said and Felix smiled.

"Good, that's excellent. Everyone come home. If we keep it up like this, we'll nail that shady bastard." He said, with a strange delight into the radio. He then pocketed it as he walked inside of the Inn so he could have his dinner.

Later that night as usual, Muffy threw a party at the pub that Griffon left her as he decided he wanted to retire and relax. The party was exclusive for 'The Crew' only, which consisted of the couples of this town who were friends of Jack, which consisted mainly of Jack, Celia, Felix, Nami, Muffy, and Damian. All of them were married, except for Stone and Muffy, who decided it would be more fun to stay unmarried for a while.

Felix laughed at a joke, as he sipped his drink. "Oooh, I got a headache. Hey guys, I'll be right back, I'm gonna get some fresh air." He said as he walked outside the room, sipping the potent drink called Dragon's breath that had probably given him the headache in the first place.

But as he walked outside, he heard footsteps. His headache faded quickly, and he reached inside his vest, where there was a holstered pistol. A long time ago, he was a private in a war that happened far from this happy little hamlet of the world. He reconsidered using it, seeing as a gunshot would wake up the entire town.

Felix instead holstered his gun and instead unsheathed his knife. He crept through the darkness, searching for the culprit of the steps he head heard. They weren't loud steps, they were actually quite quiet, but everything in the Valley echoes at night. Felix crossed the river, searching for the person creeping through the valley.

Eventually, he found the person and to his dismay, it wasn't the shape of a villager but a man clad in black who bore a blade. A surge of hot blood rushed through his veins, in anticipation of the kill.

He crept up on him ever so silently, strands of his hair falling into his eyes, as a grin crept onto his face. "Boo." He whispered into the assassin's ear as he thrust the knife quickly into his throat, twisting it and viciously ripping apart his neck.

The assassin dropped his blade, struggling to fight, but with the blood cascading from his neck, he was unable to do a thing. Felix removed his knife, and grimaced at the body.

"Invaders are not welcome in this land." He said in a cruel, cold tone. Despite his tone though, he was smiling broadly. The sight of blood brought the beast in him out.

He decided to drag this body out to the side of the road and make a message out of him. It began raining as he did this, so he was relieved of the task of cleaning the blood.

He found a large branch, and leaned it against the trunk of a tree. He then strung the body up with vines and with the blood of the man who was about to attack the village, he spelled out on the grass;

COME IN PEACE, OR LEAVE IN DEATH.

He plunged the sword of the assassin into his chest, and ran back to town, washing his hands in the river. He ran back to the bar and walked in, after he had made sure that his clothes were spotless.

"Hey guys, sorry about that. I had to take a piss and it started raining" He said, with a grin.

Felix was worried. An assassin? Why here... such a thing was ominous... they say that assassins only surface when evil and death are to be abound. They also say that killing an assassin places Death's Eye on you, which will put you forever on a list of people to be killed.

An assassin... a bearer of death... here, in this humble village? What could this mean? He was walking towards Carter and Flora's place... their suspicions were right about them. He was going to have to ask Jack about this, the town was more of his place to know things, Felix only dealt with illegal arms sales, and things that lay outside of this town.

Jack would have to delve into the darkness soon, in order to shed some light on these ominous forebodings. What could Carter have that's of significant value?

How little they knew... they knew nothing of the stone, and what it's purpose was. The stone was heralding every dark being to come claim it, to taste it's corrupting, dark powers.

And Forget-Me-Not Valley was within the eye of it all. The stone resided in her hands, and it would be reduced to rubble and ash, if those who desired the allure of the stone met resistance.


	3. Prelude to War

Within simplicity, lies the perfection in any life. The happiness derived from things that can be reached out and touched is astounding. You don't need money, you don't need toys, tvs, clothes, or frivolities. Just friends, and the care and love they can provide.

Such was the entire thing that Jack had learned from his father. The man never ceased to touch his son's life, even from the afterlife. Jack had risen from his bed, leaving his wife there. Looking out the window that was nearby the bed, he saw the sun just peeking up over the horizon, showering the land with golden life.

She liked to sleep in later than he did, which was still earlier than most city folk.

City folk... Jack remembered being one of those types of people, before he ventured out to this remote valley away from the center of society. He sometimes missed the place he came from. Nami and Felix have been to, and have come from the city, where Jack had almost forgot what it was like.

He looked at himself in the mirror, his body hardened and toned by hard years of manual, yet rewarding, labor. What ever happened to the city slicker in him? He remembered the days when he could care less and would rarely give a damn.

He wanted to at least, somewhat return to his roots. He strode over to his dresser, and removed some ancient clothing. A black preppy collared shirt, and charcoal jeans. He donned his dark brown boots and gloves, these two accessories something he'd never remove. His father used to wear these boots, and gloves, when he used to tend this earth himself, only laying them aside when he was on his deathbed.

He strode out of his house, and towards the river, looking up at the sun creeping up over the mouth of the river, between the trees and rocky outcroppings. He then decided he'd walk along the mountain path. To think a little, clear his mind.

As he walked up the path, he began thinking... was he really happy where he was, with the people he was with? Sure, he was with goodhearted company... but they were boring, sometimes. Everything was too easy, too simple... to predictable. He wanted to do something new, exciting.

He continued up the path, talking to himself. "I want to break out of this rut... when is something new and exciting going to happen in this shitsplat of a town?!" He exclaimed to himself.

"Is this your idea of exciting?" A familiar voice asked, from further up the path. Jack looked up, to see Felix, standing against some strange fencepost. "Hey, was that pole there before?" He asked, and Felix grinned, shirtless, and heavy with sweat.

"Nope, put it up this morning." He said, as he pointed up to the tip of this high pole. Atop it, was a man, pierced from the lower region, all the way up and out of his mouth. Jack stumbled backwards, and looked at the scarred veteran, who grinned at his handiwork.

"Oh my goddess... what is this, Felix!?" He asked, and he grinned. "An invader. Bore a blade, and a will to kill. So, I disposed of him." He said, tapping the pole affectionately. "We can expect more of these guys, until we know what their real intents are. I'm going to leave this up to you, because I'm going to patrol the town's perimeter, to ensure everyone's safety. I'll be telling Damian, as well." Felix said.

Jack gulped. "What do you want me to do?" He asked, and Felix walked over to his knapsack nearby a tree. He threw a few contents to Jack. A sheathed combat knife, which he caught, and a holster bearing a handgun.

He caught both, and dropped them as he caught them. "No, no no! I'm not getting into your illegal shit!" Jack said, and Felix frowned at him. "Would you rather defend the town with me and Damian? I've got guns, and Damian's got some serious skill with polearms. I'm sure that you can manage with a knife, and a pistol. There's a silencer in the holster, too. Screw it on, when you use it, at all times. What I want you to do, is when we find an invader, is for you to chase them down, and either follow them, or cut them til they speak." He said, with a twisted grin.

Well, Jack got his wish, unfortunately.

New and exciting.

Felix grinned at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "Gotta watch what you wish for, farmer boy." He said, with a chuckle. Jack removed the heavy gun from the holster. It was a hefty looking black pistol, with an inscription in the side of the dark steel handle.

_.45 Magnum. _

Jack had heard Felix talk about these kind of guns. Magnums. Incredibly powerful with an amazing kick back. Maybe that's why he chose him to do this job... although he was a newcomer with guns, he had some serious muscle from farm work that would help with the recoil of the gun firing.

He stashed the weapons in his rucksack, and head back to town, and decided to mull around and chat with the neighbors, after he had finished his usual regimen of watering, and taking care of his livestock.

When nightfall came, he told Celia to stay inside, and to lock the doors. "Why, what's going on Jack?" She asked, worried. Jack showed her the handgun. "Felix killed a man who was carrying weapons and going to kill someone in the town... me, Felix, and Damian are going to patrol tonight, and make sure nothing goes wrong." He said, as he began screwing on the silencer.

She looked at him, her large almond eyes filled with fright. "Please, don't get hurt?" She asked, and he nodded.

Elsewhere...

Felix sat on his bed, shirtless again, his hair falling into his eyes. Nami ran a hand across his back, feeling his scars and tension in his back.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her cold visage beginning to dissolve as she laid eyes on her love. Felix ran a hand over his face. "War is brewing... I came here to get away from it, and it's coming back to haunt me." Felix said, as he clutched his face.

"I can smell it. It's in the air. The tension of eyes watching us, this town, ready to destroy it. And all we have are three men with sparse weapons to fight them off." He said, and she sat down besides him, leaning against him, covering the table in front of them that was littered with grenades, knives, guns and munitions with a cloth.

She didn't know what to say. His experience with war had left him as emotionally and mentally scarred as it had left him physically scarred, and Nami found it hard to relate to him and his plight. "You'll be fine, sweetheart... if everything gets real bad, I'm sure we'll all be behind you guys... remember, we're all in the Crew together, right?" She said, and Felix looked up at her, with a smile, and a nod.

"Yeah, you're right. At least in this war, I'm not alone..." He said, and he kissed her.

At the bar.

Damian sat on his bed, upstairs in the bar. He was shining a spear, and had a multitude of throwing knives at his side. "I hope he's wrong, Muffy." He said, looking upset. She leaned against him. "I'm sure he is... that Felix is a basket case, you know how he gets about everything..." She said, but secretly, she was worried as well. What if war was arriving to the Valley?

The three left their houses, around midnight, and began their patrols, meeting up after every round in the middle of town to report any suspicions of anything. Most everyone was home and asleep by now, and the empty silent streets made for tonight's war zone.

They suddenly heard the slow trotting of horse's hoofs. Off in the distance, they saw the eyes of two creatures, striding towards them. They all ran for the bridge at the center of town, to head off this foreboding figure marching slowly towards them.

Under the light of the moon, they could see what the invader was for certain. It was a strangely garbed man, with shining silver eyes, draped in black clothes, with skulls dangling from his neck, and his horse's saddles and reigns were decorated with them as well.

The three stood there tensely, gripping their weapons, awaiting what this man, or creature, would do.

Eventually, from behind his elaborate wrap that obscured all of his face besides his eyes, he spoke. "Give up the Nex Stone, or the armies of the Nightshadow will overrun and take it from you. Spare yourself death by giving it up. Simpletons like you would not comprehend how to harness it's power." He said, and Felix scowled.

"You obviously did not read my sign, did you?" He said, and the mane looked down upon Felix. "Oh, so you're the one who desecrated the body of one of our assassins? I'll make sure to report that to our council, so that we may kill you in the most excruciating-" And then suddenly, he was cut off by a knife that had been thrown incredibly accurately into his chest.

He screamed in agony, as he clutched at the blade. "How... dare you?" He exclaimed, ripping it from his chest, panting heavily in pain. They had obviously figured that they wouldn't attack such a demeaning figure, and not only that, they must've thought a farming community wouldn't have any weapons to defend themselves.

"Again, you did not read the sign. Invaders are not welcome here." Damian said, twirling one of his throwing knives, as the man growled at them in anger, as he turned his horse, and went to flee this town on his black horse with crimson eyes.

Felix motioned to Jack. Jack raised his handgun, and with nothing but a rush of air, the high powered bullet tore the emissary's head off.

"The worst has been confirmed." Felix said, moving to the corpse. Jack's hands shook, as he lowered his handgun, and Damian was obviously shaken by the appearance of such frightening foes. Never had any of them seen such people or creatures before. A horse and rider straight out of wife's tales of devils riding nightmarish steeds.

"We need to find this stone, and we need to rid ourselves of it." Jack said, looking up the river to Carter and Flora's house. They were the reason why the Valley would soon be consumed with the flames of war.


End file.
